Thunderheads
by FanWriterWV
Summary: Sam finds himself in a cabin in the woods, as himself no less, and helps find a missing boy.


THUNDERHEADS

_**THUNDERHEADS**_

There was a flash and a crackle, and a blaze of white light…white light? That had never happened before, had it? Every time he'd ever Leaped the light had been blue; what was going on?

Sam Beckett was about to ask when another blast of light hit him. It definitely wasn't from the Leap, he thought, as he smelled something burning and fell forward into unconsciousness.

Sam woke up to the rumble of thunder and the sound of a man and a woman talking.

"Who's that?" The man asked.

"I don't know," the woman answered. "I found him outside."

"Where the hell is Mark?"

"Don't ask me." The woman's voice was tense. "I haven't seen him since he tried to go out and find help."

"That stupid kid…"

Sam opened his eyes. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were blackened with soot. More importantly, he saw that there was something very familiar about them…he looked around. He was in a cabin, apparently deep in the woods from the pine trees he could see outside the nearby window. He caught a glimpse of the calendar on the wall; it read August 1981.

"Where did I wind up this time?" Sam whispered.

"In my dad's cabin," the woman answered as she stood over him. Sam looked up at her. She looked like she was in her late twenties, with medium-length red hair. The man standing behind her wore a policeman's uniform-a State Trooper's-and regarded him suspiciously.

"What were you doing out in that storm, mister?" he asked. "And did you happen to see a teenager-a skinny kid with blonde hair and glasses?"

"Jeff, calm down. This man's just been struck by lightning. Try not to move," she admonished Sam as he tried to sit up. The man she called Jeff shook his head and turned his attention to the window. "Don't mind my older brother," she said. "Jeff's always been very protective of me. He practically had to raise the two of us after Mom died and dad…well, dad had problems. I'm Alice, by the way-Alice Goodwin."

"I'm…" Sam tried to find a mirror or some way to find out what he looked like. "Heh…guess my brains were a little Swiss-cheesed from the lightning."

"It's probably traumatic amnesia," Alice said. "I'm a nurse; I've seen it in accident victims. Well…we found you right outside. That's why Jeff asked you if you'd seen anyone; Mark is a good boy but he's a bit…slow. He tried to go for help when we weren't looking and now Jeff is blaming himself."

"Mark?"

"My nephew," Jeff Goodwin came away from the window to join them, although he still seemed suspicious of Sam. "Are you sure you didn't see anyone? You must have if you were coming up the road; it's the only way off of this mountain."

"Jeff, will you please stop treating him like a criminal? He's just been through a terrible ordeal."

"That doesn't mean he didn't see anything," Jeff grumbled. He shook his head. "Damn fool kid, I told him to wait…"

"It wasn't your fault," Alice reminded him. The cabin shook as there was another flash of lightning and a roar of thunder. "You wanted Mark to have a vacation. You couldn't have been able to predict this storm." She looked back at Sam. "Well, you've only got some minor burns. You were lucky, whoever you are. It could have been a lot worse."

"Thanks." Sam looked down and saw that he was wearing a blanket; he lifted it up and nearly blushed. "What happened to my clothes?"

"We found you like that," Alice chuckled. "Don't worry-I said I was a nurse, remember?"

"Uh, yeah, you did." Sam finally saw something that was able to cast his reflection-a framed photo on a small table beside him. It was of a young girl and a middle-aged man, presumably Alice when she was younger and her father. What shocked him even more than finding himself naked was the reflection he saw in the glass.

Because the reflection he saw was his own.

"Oh, boy," Sam whispered.

QLQLQL

Boone Mountain, South Carolina, August 8, 1981

Sam was still trying to figure out what was going on. It had been nearly six hours now and Mark hadn't returned. Jeff had gone out to look for him before it got too dark and had left Alice his gun for self-protection, over her objections. There was a portable radio in the cabin; Alice turned it on to help pass the time. _"In national news, President Reagan defended his decision to fire the striking air traffic controllers, saying their strike was illegal…"_

Sam still couldn't understand why he had leaped in as himself. If he was here to help find Mark, why didn't he leap into Jeff? "Why am I here?" he asked himself out loud.

"You're probably a hiker who got caught in the storm by surprise like we did," Alice said, overhearing him. "How's your memory?"

"It's um, still a bit fuzzy. Thanks," Sam accepted a cup of coffee. "Tell me more about Mark. If I saw him it might, uh, help jog my memory."

"Well, like I said, Mark is a bit slow. He's really quite smart in some areas, but has trouble paying attention. Other kids used to make fun of him when he was younger. Jeff has been really good at finding him teachers who can help him. And don't take anything Jeff says the wrong way; he's just really worried. So am I."

"It sounds like Mark might have high-functioning autism," Sam suggested. "He was probably misdiagnosed as being borderline retarded when he was younger."

"That's right." Alice sounded surprised. "Maybe you're a doctor."

I actually have seven degrees, Sam wanted to tell her, but then a familiar voice said, "You're right there, Sam, the kid is autistic. But don't worry; he's safe and gets found in another couple of hours."

"Al, I'm really glad to see you!" Sam said through his teeth while Alice's back was turned. He held up the picture. "Look at this! I'm me, Al! How the hell did that happen? The last time I leaped into myself was when I was still a teenager in 1969!"

"Yeah, well, Gooshie's been working on a couple of theories; one of them is that the lightning strike happened at the same time you leapt and shorted out your physical aura. Once Ziggy recovered from the shock she said there was a 98 percent probability you were supposed to leap into Jeff, but now Jeff's gone and…" The hologram smacked the side of the familiar handlink. "Oh, Sam, this isn't good…Ziggy says now Jeff gets lost and he and Mark's remains aren't found until a month from now."

"What about Alice?"

"Ziggy says that in the original history Alice went out looking for them and got lost too; he survived but the guilt over losing her brother and nephew overwhelmed her."

"I have to go out there and find them," Sam said as he stood up.

"Whoa, you're not going anywhere," Alice protested. "For one thing, you're still recovering from a lightning strike, and for another, you don't have any clothes on. Besides, Jeff knows these woods like the back of his hand; he'll find Mark."

"Not in this weather. Trust me, I think we should both go out and look for them before it gets too dark."

The determination and sincerity in Sam's voice must have made an impression, because Alice finally relented. "Well, I can let you borrow some of Jeff's clothes. But if you start to feel dizzy or anything, we're turning around."

QLQLQL

The rain was coming down in sheets as Sam led Alice by the hand across fallen tree trunks and muddy ground. "This way, Sam!" Al's figure, glowing as more lightning flashed overhead, waved him towards what looked like a ditch. "Oh, you'd better get over here quick. Mark's OK but it looks like Jeff took a fall and has a nasty bruise on his forehead."

Sam and Alice found Mark sitting over Jeff's unconscious body. He peered up at Sam through his rain-streaked glasses. "My uncle's hurt," he said. "Who are you?"

"He's a friend; he's here to help," Alice said. "Can you help us pick up your uncle so we can get him back to the cabin?"

"Yeah, Aunt Alice, I can do that." He looked at Sam again. "Are you a doctor?"

"Sometimes," Sam replied. "Now come on-let's help your Uncle Jeff now, okay?"

QLQLQL

The rain had finally let up. The lights of an ambulance flashed outside the cabin window as paramedics checked the bandage on Jeff's forehead. Jeff thanked them and looked at Sam.

"I guess I owe you an apology," he said. "Alice told me what happened. A lot of people wouldn't have done what you did."

"I'm just glad I was here to help." Sam looked at Mark. "And you are a very brave young man, staying with your uncle like that." Mark responded with a shy grin.

"He's a Goodwin," Jeff said. "We're at our best when times are at their worst. That's one thing Dad tried to teach me."

"You did well, Sam," Al said. "According to Ziggy they come up here every year from now on. Mark gets to go to college and becomes dedicated to teaching autistic children. Alice goes back to medical school and becomes a doctor; Jeff stays with the State Police…you saved another family, kid."

"Thanks, Dad," Sam grinned, just before he leapt.

THE END


End file.
